The One to Count On...

Pella Steamrolls Centerville for Homecoming Win

The party may have gotten off to a slow start, but the offense for the Pella High football team turned a fashionably late arrival into a raucous bash, as the Little Dutch trounced Centerville on Homecoming night. Pella’s 61-0 victory started with a meager 7-0 lead through one quarter, but 28 points in the second quarter put the game out of question by halftime, with the Little Dutch holding a 35-0 lead through two quarters.

Pella Head Coach Jay McKinstrey said an abbreviated practice schedule and the Homecoming excitement this week may have contributed to the slow start, but the defense picked up the slack, and the team improved as the game wore on.

“I thought our defense played well. [It] kept us in good position, the field position was good, but it just seemed like we were lacking a little bit of intensity tonight, and a little bit of focus,” said McKinstrey. “I was really happy with the way we came out in the second half, though. I thought we did some good things on the first four plays, and I just liked the way we played it. And I liked the way that our second and third teamers came in. I thought they played well, they played hard, and they wanted to perform well; and I think they felt really good about the way they played too.”

With a constant shuffle of reserve players rotating in, Pella scored twice in each of the final two quarters, while the defense continued to stonewall the Centerville offense. Thanks to the strong play on defense and special teams, the Little Dutch offense benefited from a short field for most of the night, totalling just 382 yards of offense, despite scoring nine touchdowns.

Pella’s Austin Fuller had his biggest night of the season as part of the Little Dutch rushing attack, as he tallied 86 yards and 2 touchdowns on just give carries. McKinstrey said that given the skills he has, Fuller’s night shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise.

“I tell you what, Austin [Fuller]…he’s fast. He’s got some great speed, and if you watch the way he moves his hips and his shoulders as a running back, he does a good job of making guys miss,” said McKinstrey. “He can accelerate through the hole and past the hole, and he’s got some great cutting ability.”

Quarterback Teag Klyn also had a big night offensively for Pella, as he completed 3 of 6 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown to Ryan Lanke, while rushing for two more scores. Even with all of the offensive firepower, the night still belonged to the Pella defense, as they held Centerville to a net of 16 total yards of offense.

Pella’s Homecoming victory improved their record to 5-0, while Centerville fell to 0-5. Pella has now outscored its opponents 228-14 this season, including 207 unanswered points in the last four games. That’s not likely to be the case next week, though, as the Little Dutch travel to Mt. Pleasant to face a very talented Panther football team that many tabbed as a front-runner for the district crown.